In this image from 2015, a displaced Iraqi child from the Shabak community, who fled fighting between ISIS and Peshmerga fighters around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, stands at the Baharka camp, a few miles west of Erbil. (photo: Mohammed Sawaf/AFP/Getty Images)

There are several minority religions in Mesopotamia which are distantly related to each other and to Islam. For the most part, these religions are considered heterodox by the dominant Sunni Muslim population. In addition, some contain elements taken from Shi’ite Islam that go beyond what its adherents would find acceptable. In parts of the region, these religions are persecuted for being heterodox or considered as simply Shi’ite — a “proof” to some that Shi’ite Islam is also heterodox.

Included in this group would be the Shabak.

The Shabak people are concentrated in northern Iraq to the east and north of Mosul. CNEWA encounters them in the clinics we support in the Iraqi province of Dohuk. It is estimated that the Shabak presently number between 500,000 and 550,000.

The Shabak faith is remotely related to the Alawi sect which is in Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. The al-Asad family, the strong man rulers of Syria, belongs to the Alawi sect in western Syria. However, the relation between the two faiths is remote.

The Shabak take the basic Muslim creed that there is no God but God (Allah), Muslim reverence for the Prophet Muhammad and the Shi’ite reverence for Aly, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and combine them in an unusual way. For Shabak Allah, Muhammad and Aly form a type of trinity in which Aly is the primary manifestation of the divinity. While all Muslims have a deep, emotional reverence for the Prophet and while Shi’ite Muslims add to that a deep, emotional reverence for Aly (and his second son, Hussein), it is totally unacceptable for Sunni and Shi’ite alike to consider Muhammad and Aly as divine in any sense of the word. This Shabak belief alone is enough to bring on them the opprobrium of the dominant Muslim population.

The faith of the Shabak is hierarchically ordered. Each person and family comes under a pir, which is a type of priest/spiritual director. This pir is to be differentiated from the pir which is a spiritual authority/teacher in the Sufi traditions of Islam, although the two may be related. The pir is responsible for carrying out all the worship services in which he is assisted by a functionary called a rehber.

For the three great festivals of the year, 12 functionaries must take part in the ceremonies. The first festival is New Year, which is in December; the second is Ashurah, a Shi’ite memorial of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and the Night of Pardon. During the Night of Pardon, the Shabak confess their sins — a practice common in Christianity, but unknown in Islam. In fact, public confession of sins, consumption of alcohol and pilgrimages to shrines of saints are practices (above and beyond their belief in a trinity) which sharply differentiate the Shabak from Islam.

The Shabak suffered greatly under ISIS. They are not considered a People of the Book and were hence faced with the stark choice of conversion to Islam or death. Since it is not clear to which ethnic group the Shabak belong — Turkic, Arab, Kurdish, Iranian — they are inevitably caught up on the ethnic conflicts of the region.

As a result, as is the case with many of the religious minorities of the Middle East, the survival of the Shabak is very precarious.

In his message to future Ukrainian priests, Pope Francis recalled that the institution was built with the intent of conveying a message of love and closeness to those faithful “who live in areas of suffering and persecution.”

He invited them to prepare for their apostolic mission as deacons and priests studying the Church’s Social Doctrine and recalling the example of Pope Pius XI whom, he said, “always and firmly raised his voice in defending the faith, the freedom of the Church and the transcendent dignity of every human person” while condemning the atheistic and inhumane ideologies that bloodied the 20th century.

“Also today the world is world is wounded by wars and violence” the Pope said with a particular reference to the beloved Ukrainian nation “from which you came and to where you will return” after having completed your studies in Rome.

Backing his encouragement to spread a culture of peace and acceptance with words from the Gospel, the Pope said “to you, seminarians and priests of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, these challenges may seem out of your reach; but let us remember the words of the Apostle John: I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.”

The Pope said that by loving and proclaiming the Word they will become true shepherds of the communities that will be entrusted to them.

Meantime, CNS has this report from Junno Arocho Esteves, offering the pope’s personal remembrance of a beloved Ukrainian bishop:

Meeting a group of Ukrainian Catholics, Pope Francis said that long ago in Argentina, he had learned about the suffering of Christians in their homeland and about the beauty of their liturgy.

Speaking to a group of professors, students and alumni from the Ukrainian Pontifical College of St. Josephat, a seminary in Rome, the pope said he valued the lessons he learned as a boy from Bishop Stepan Chmil.

“It did me so much good because he spoke to me about the persecution, sufferings, the ideologies that persecuted the Christians” in Ukraine under communism, the pope said on 9 November.

Then-Father Chmil was among the first Eastern-rite Catholics allowed to enter the Salesian order while retaining their liturgical rites and traditions.

After completing his studies in Turin, Italy, Father Chmil ministered to countless Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Western Europe during World War II.

In 1948, he was sent to Argentina to minister to Ukrainian refugees there and met a young Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was in his last year of grade school.

“I learned how to assist at Mass in the Ukrainian rite from him; he taught me everything,” the pope said.

Assisting Father Chmil twice a week, he said, “taught me to be open to a different liturgy, which has always remained in my heart as something beautiful.”

After Father Chmil’s death in 1978, the pope said, it was revealed that he had been “consecrated a bishop in secret in Rome” by Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, then-major archbishop.

Pope Francis also said he gave testimony for the Ukrainian bishop’s canonization cause to the current head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych.

“I wanted to remember him today,” he said, “because it is right to give thanks to him for the good that he has done for me.”

Syria has declared victory over ISIS, but questions remain about how Syria will rebuild and recover after the lengthy civil war that has decimated much of the country. The video above shows some of the devastation and explores some solutions. (video: The National/YouTube)

Syria declares victory over ISIS(Reuters) Syria’s army declared victory over Islamic State on Thursday, saying its capture of the jihadists’ last town in the country marked the collapse of their project in the region...

An Iraqi town where Muslims, Jews and Christians coexist, in theory(The New York Times) Today Amadiya’s population of 9,000 is overwhelmingly Kurdish Muslim. But in the early 20th century there were said to be about two-thirds that many people, about evenly divided among Muslims, Christians and Jews — although there were 10 mosques compared with two churches and two synagogues. Everyone was packed into a circumference of a mile and a half...

Pope John Paul I declared ‘venerable’(CNS) Pope Francis recognized that Pope John Paul I, who served only 33 days as pope, lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way. The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ decision on 9 November. It marks the first major step on the path to sainthood for the pope who died in 1978 at the age of 65, shocking the world and a church that had just mourned the death of Blessed Paul VI...

Blessed Rani Maria seen as a beacon of hope for Indian Christians(Global Sisters Report) The beatification of a martyred Catholic nun will help evangelization in India, where preaching Christ’s message has become increasingly difficult, church leaders say. Sister Rani Maria Vattalil’s beatification “is a major turning point in the history of Christianity in India, where peace-loving Christians face persecution,” said Shibu Thomas, head of Persecution Relief, an ecumenical forum that records attacks against Christians in India...

Good Shepherd Sister Monique Tarabeh is pictured in an undated selfie photo. Sister Tarabeh grew up in Damascus, Syria, and her family still lives there despite the ongoing civil war that started in 2011. (photo: CNS/courtesy Good Shepherd Sister Monique Tarabeh)

Good Shepherd Sister Monique Tarabeh’s visit home in July and August was gut-wrenching. Sister Tarabeh grew up in Damascus, Syria, and her family still lives there, despite the civil war that started in 2011. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee to safety in other nations.

Currently, Sister Tarabeh serves in Rome as the communications coordinator for the Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd congregation. Previously, she worked in Lebanon and Syria, using her master’s degree in graphic design.

She recently spoke to Global Sisters Report about her summer visit home and what she saw there.

Q: Your family in Damascus is safe, and you got to spend time with them. What was it like in Damascus?

A: In Damascus, the situation was bad. There were too many bombs. But my sister has a house in the mountains, so I stayed there awhile and then joined the community in Homs to help them. They needed help because so many families have moved from their area into Homs, even though there is all this damage.

Q: We’ve been told that Homs had been devastated by bombing and seen photos of a city destroyed by the war. You’re saying people are moving there?

A: Yes, people are going there because the areas where they live are even worse. Our center in Homs is working with the people who have moved there to give them education and psychological help. They teach them how to process the trauma, and they have special programs for children and youth. ... Around the convent, all those areas were bombed and destroyed, but the building of the convent and the church is untouched. You cannot believe it — it's like the hands of God were covering it.

I served in Homs for seven months in 2006 and 2007, and those areas ... were the richest, most beautiful places in Homs. Each building had five floors and balconies. Trees lined the streets, and there were flowers. It was a place you liked to go visit.

People walk in front of destroyed buildings at the site of a 2016 twin bomb attack in Homs, Syria.(photo: CNS/EPA)

When I saw this area where I spent a really beautiful time with the people there, when you see this empty, all this damage, my heart is broken. I stayed one day, and I could not speak when I returned to the convent.

And then to think about those people coming to Homs from places that are worse, like Aleppo, where you can’t see two stones stacked together because it’s all flat now. It’s hard to find the words.

I tried to talk about this, but it’s very painful when I remember all those people and their faces, and now they are not here. All the beautiful images all coming back at once. I cannot believe it happened.

Q: How do you deal with that? How do you continue working?

A: I took photos in Homs, but I can never take photos in Damascus, because Damascus is where I lived. I don’t like to see them at all. It’s not easy to see the place you grew up, and now, it’s destroyed.

Some areas are better than others. My family’s home is untouched, thank God, but all around them is damage. What happened to my family is nothing when you see the other areas.

But the people have a good spirit. I think as a way of surviving, they share a lot of humor and jokes. I really admire them. They do everything they can to let it pass and begin a new life.

Q: How do the sisters continue working? How do they keep their spirits up amid all the misery?

A: I asked them, “How can you continue? Nobody can just serve and give all the time.” One said, “Monique, when I saw I could do something for people, I forget myself.”

We also have Good Shepherd Sisters in Lebanon, and they can go there for a few days and rest with them.

But you are never safe. It’s just, every time when they go out, they don’t know if they’ll be back or not. They live day by day and trust that God will protect them.

This is an edited version of a story originally published in Global Sisters Report, a project of National Catholic Reporter. Visit their website for more.

The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel was established at the beginning of the fourth century at the Council of Laodicea, which met several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration.

A feast day was established in November, the ninth month after March (with which the year began in ancient times) since there are Nine Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was chosen for the Synaxis of all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven since the Day of the Dread Last Judgment is called the Eighth Day by the holy Fathers. After the end of this age (characterized by its seven days of Creation) will come the Eighth Day, and then “the Son of Man shall come in His Glory and all the holy Angels with Him” (Mt. 25:31).

Troparion — Tone 4
Commanders of the heavenly hosts, / we who are unworthy beseech you, / by your prayers encompass us beneath the wings of your immaterial glory, / and faithfully preserve us who fall down and cry to you: / “Deliver us from all harm, for you are the commanders of the powers on high!”

Kontakion — Tone 2
Commanders of God’s armies and ministers of the divine glory, / princes of the bodiless angels and guides of mankind, / ask for what is good for us, and for great mercy, / supreme commanders of the Bodiless Hosts.

Pope Francis greets the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar at the Vatican on Tuesday.(photo: EPA/Vatican Radio)

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In the video above, lonely elderly in Armenia find purpose and happiness spending time at the Nadine Basmajian Day Care Center in Gyumri, supported in part by CNEWA.(video: ArmenianSisters.org)

One of the projects CNEWA is helping to support in Armenia is the Nadine Basmajian Day Care Center for the elderly in Gyumri. We reported on the center a few years ago in ONE:

At the Nadine Basmajian Center, 35 elderly people currently find company and sympathy as they spend their days there; some 200 seniors have benefited since the [Armenian Sisters of the Immaculate Conception] launched the center.

The most energetic participant, Hamazasp Hakobian, 85, divides his life into three phases: orphanage, the end of World War II and the earthquake.

“I overcame the postwar famine, but the earthquake destroyed everything,” he says of a calamity that killed his wife, leaving him to rear his three teenagers alone. Now he is alone again.

“They all have left the country, looking for sources of income and means of survival,” he says of his children. “We are here in this center so we don’t lose our minds with loneliness, hunger and cold. We couldn’t bear to be away for even a day,” he says, with a kindly look to his friends.

Now, the center has sent us a video, chronicling the day-to-day life of some of these “new orphans” being cared for by the sisters. See for yourself, in the video above, what a wonderful difference it is making in their lives. Thanks to our generous donors for helping to bring light and life to this corner of Armenia!

In this image from 2013, altar boys serve the liturgy at the Chaldean parish in Amman. To learn more about Iraqi families seeking to start a new life in Jordan, read Out of Iraq in the Spring 2013 edition of ONE. (photo: Cory Eldridge)

In the video above, Syrian children tell some of the horrors they experienced in the final days of ISIS in Raqqa. (video: VOA/YouTube)

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